Airtran Seating???

[njmom08]

I just called Airtran to ask about assigned seating. I told her my concern was that my dh and I are traveling with my ds(3 1/2) and dd(18 months). My dd will sit on my lap but I want to make sure that my ds is next to either my dh or I. She said the only way too guarantee that is to pay $12 each person round trip. Otherwise she said we could be seperated. I told her it seemed like common sense to make sure a child that young was close to one parent. She said only if we pay. Has anyone else had any experiences with this???

 

[sueh]

I am flying Airtran in July and traveling with my 2 children. I was very concerned with this as I have read and reread many comments on this topic.
I emailed Airtran several times with my concerns and the last person that I had contact with assigned my seats at no charge as a one time deal because I was traveling with children.
I thought the same thing that they would at least put the children next to the parents but I am not sure.
I do understand that there are people that pick their seat assignments when they purchase their tickets (but you can only do that if you purchase directly through Airtran.com) or you can pay the fee or wait 24 hrs before your scheduled flight and pick your seats online(if you have paper tickets like I do you can't do anything online) or you have to wait until check-in.
I would think under most circumstances that if for some reason that you were to be put in seperate seats you could probably ask the person next to you to change seats. I would think that they would be more than happy to oblige or they can listen to your child cry and bother them the whole plane ride

 

[njmom08]

I like your point about the kids having to sit next to a stranger the whole flight crying!!! I guess I have that to my advantage!

 

[crashbb]

I would think under most circumstances that if for some reason that you were to be put in seperate seats you could probably ask the person next to you to change seats. I would think that they would be more than happy to oblige or they can listen to your child cry and bother them the whole plane ride

If you read other threads, you'll find that many of us will not be willing to change with you if we paid to pre-select our seat and you decided not to. Personally, I have noise canceling earphones and can happily tune your child out - threatening me by saying that your child is likely to cry and "annoy" me will make me less (not more) likely to change with you.

Now, having said that, I've never flown Airtran so I'm not sure how they deal with it and I have been known to move to help out families (I'm not as hard hearted as my first paragraph sounds), but choosing not to pay to pre-select is a choice you are making and you may have to live with the consequences.

 

[njmom08]

wow, you do not seem to have the Disney spirit at all

 

[yazee1]

We've flown Airtran several times in the past couple years. I don't pay for the pre-assigned seats but once I started checking in 24 hours in advance online, there hasn't been a problem with separation. The times before that, when I have been separated from the kids due to seating assignments, others have been kind enough to switch seats.

I don't like the policy of paying extra for picking my seat, but no one makes us fly Air Tran. If you don't like the policy fly another airline.

 

[njmom08]

Thanks for the advice. I will try selecting our seats on-line ahead of time.I would think most people would be understanding about switching because of kids. I agree about not wanting to pay the extra fee.

 

[PlutoPony]

People who HAVE paid $$ to pick their seat assignments ahead of time are unlikely to change seats with someone who didn't. So by waiting until the 24 hour mark to get seats together you're gambling that there are going to be 2 seats together... if there aren't that means people have paid to essentially sit together and you could be SOL (and unfortunately have only yourself to blame). Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a control freak but if it's really important to me that I sit by someone and I can assure that it happens by spending some money in advance, I'll do it. That way I'm not dependent on another passenger changing seats with me "out of the goodness of their hearts" or something like that, kwim?

 

[Poohs Pal]

Sorry but if I am willing to pay the extra I'm not giving up my seat fro someone who won't pay. I would think with young children you'd be willing to shell out the extra $36.00. A small price to pay to not have to worry about sitting together. Susan

 

[momto2inKC]

Thanks for the advice. I will try selecting our seats on-line ahead of time.I would think most people would be understanding about switching because of kids. I agree about not wanting to pay the extra fee.

I really think it's a good idea to go ahead and purchase them ahead of time. We fly Airtran and pay to pick our seats when we book. I would probably not be willing to give up my seat, as i'm sure would be the case with most people who paid extra for their seat assignment.

 

[laginog001]

We just booked our flights with Airtran. My husband and I are flying with our 3 nephews, ages 7, 5 & 3. It cost us $60 extra to pre-select our seats. However, we decided not to risk getting separated. I have heard many Airtran stories of people that have gotten separated....and people that won't move to accommodate them. We could have chanced that 5 seats together would have been available 24 hours in advance of the flight but....the odds of that happening with 5 seats were probably not very good.

 

[Lisa06468]

I wouldnt switch either after paying for our seats. We're flying airtran in oct and I paid for our seat selection. Its a minimum amount, with already low fares, and didnt make a difference. Had I been paying higher fare amounts I wouldnt want to do it.

 

[doberlady]

If I paid for my seat selection I would not switch either. I have flying issues and need to sit where I will feel most at ease.

 

[n2mm]

We are flying Airtran and we paid for our seat assignment. There are 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 toddlers. Sitting with the little ones was important enough for us to pay for that guarantee. Don't expect us to move for anyone who didn't pay for their seat assignments because they had the same opportunity as us. As for separating, yes that very well could happen. My daughter's neighbor flew Airtran last year and accidently booked the exit row seating and when she arrived with her DH and 3 year old son and 6 year old daughter, they had to sit in whatever seats were left. No one was willing to move so that either of them could sit near the kids. So the 3 year old and 6 year old both sat alone (BTW, the 3 year old did alot of crying according to the story). Since it happened to someone we know, I'm not taking any chances.

 

[n2mm]

wow, you do not seem to have the Disney spirit at all

Paying extra to guarantee that our grandchildren sit next to us is very important to us. If it's important to you, then you need to fork over the extra money or take your chances. This has nothing to do with Disney spirit or a lack of it. It has everything to do with controlling that our trip starts out on a good note and knowing that we can decide that ahead of time by paying the extra, then that's what we do.

 

[winterman]

I just called Airtran to ask about assigned seating. I told her my concern was that my dh and I are traveling with my ds(3 1/2) and dd(18 months). My dd will sit on my lap but I want to make sure that my ds is next to either my dh or I. She said the only way too guarantee that is to pay $12 each person round trip. Otherwise she said we could be seperated. I told her it seemed like common sense to make sure a child that young was close to one parent. She said only if we pay. Has anyone else had any experiences with this???

I would consider 24$ (or 36$ if all 3 seats together) a very small price to pay for the peace of mind.

 

[danielle.st]

Years ago, when I was a teen (about 14) my 5 person family was all split up on a flight home from Disney. I sat next to a very nice man and his small son from England. It was fine for me, but I certainly wouldn't want to take a chance on being split up on a flight with my 4 and 7 year old when we fly. I did pay the extra so that we are sitting together and I would not switch just so that someone who was too cheap to pay a little extra could sit with their kids. Not only that, I'd be angry with the parents for not having thought their children were important enough to spend that little bit extra.

Another benefit to paying the extra is that we could get both my girls window seats (we are sitting 2 in one seat and 2 in the seats behind) and I think that will make the flight extra special for them.

 

[kristenrice]

We just flew NWA from GRR and we were very happy with them. They do not charge extra to pick your normal coach seats. In Oct, we're flying out of DTW. I saw that AirTran had non-stop flights for $200 round trip. I checked with NWA and the acceptable flights are around $350. I would just factor the extra $12 into the cost of each ticket when you compare airline prices. You'll still probably come out ahead with AirTran.

 

[DebbieB]

So when you are at a parade at Disney, do you expect others who are waiting to move to make room for your children? Hopefully not. So if you want to guarantee seats together, pay the fee.

 

[UConnJack]

Personally, I think AirTran should either assign all seats or keep it open until the 24 hr mark like they used to. Personally, I would prefer the latter. The 24 hour check in to reserve seats worked just fine for me. This pay extra policy just sets up for issues.

That said, it is the policy, and if you really are worried about it, you should pay and have the seats reserved. At the very least, check your flight online periodically to see if what the seat availability is. If things look open (i.e., many open seats left) you can maybe feel comfortable that you can wait for the 24-hr check in to choose your seats. If seats are getting tight, you may want to pay to reserve them for peace of mind. I have a flight booked down to MCO from White Plains in late April and did not initially reserve seats. I have checked every week or so to see how many open seats were left, and recently decided that the flight down was getting too tight and went ahead and reserved them. The flight back remains quite open, however, and if it stays that way, I will just do the 24-hr check in on the way back.

As for those digging their heels in about not moving, I agree that there is no excuse for people who know the policy and choose to cheap out and take their chances. But I suspect many people (although obviously not the OP or others on this board), especially infrequent fliers or those new to AirTran, don't really understand this (unique) policy and get caught with their pants down. I therefore would consider moving if the situation was right. Not to mention, I would have a hard time punishing a terrified 3-year old for the ignorance or arrogance of their parents. Of course, a 6-7 year old is probably old enough to put on the big girl/boy pants and be separated from their parents for a while.